Opera Mask 面譜

Opera Mask 面譜

Face, Performance, Drawings, Face-decoration

The Chinese opera is one of the oldest known dramatic art forms worldwide. However, it is evident that most audience or spectators are more fascinated with the Opera masks normally used in every opera performance.

Beijing Opera

Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)

Face sized and shaped, Colourful decoration

Craft

Generally, opera masks are made up of ceramic material. And while in blank face, the performer or perhaps a makeup artist can design or decorate the face with detailed and decorative artwork defining and enhancing more the character and thus establishes the role.

Ceramic

These masks are more than seemingly as added decorations. Chinese opera masks are significant in a way that they represent the performers’ or characters’ personalities, intense moods, and status quo even.

The acting mask is quite closely associated with the “Masquerading” dramatic play of the Tang Dynasty. As the story goes, King Lan Ling of the Northern Qi Kingdom was such a brave and courageous fighter, but his appearance was too handsome that he cannot frighten the enemy. So he would wear a carved wooden mask to lead his army into battle, and triumphed over the enemy like it was never before. The theatrical drama “King Lan Ling going to battle” of the Tang Dynasty is a depiction of King Lan Ling of the Kingdom of Northern Qi commanding his troupe to launch an attack on the enemy. The stage actors would all wear masks in the performance. Since then, acting masks started to appear in theatrical dramas.

Similar opera masks can be seen by performers of Bian Lian.

Bian Lian is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand.